The invention relates to a mounting system for a life safety device. In particular, the invention relates to an attachment stud that can be attached to a ceiling or wall utilizing only a single screw, and a life safety device that can be mounted to the attachment stud and rotated for cosmetic alignment.
Life safety devices, including smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, typically have a mounting plate to attach the smoke alarm to a surface such as a ceiling or wall. These plates generally utilize at least two screws to mount the plate to the surface. The multi-screw design increases the installation time for the mounting plate, as it is necessary to align the mounting plate such that the life safety device assembly will be cosmetically appealing once installed. Cosmetic alignment is of particular concern if a non-circular life safety device housing is utilized, because to achieve cosmetic alignment, it may be necessary to align the edge of the device parallel to another surface, such as a nearby wall. To mount the assembly in a cosmetically appealing manner, it is often necessary with a multi-screw design to first climb a ladder and place the mounting plate on a surface, review the placement of the mounting plate to ensure it will produce the desired alignment of the life safety device, mark the location of the multiple screw holes that must be drilled into the surface, drill multiple holes, place wall anchors in the holes, re-align the mounting plate with the holes drilled in the surface, and insert the screws into the wall anchors. This entire process can be time consuming, especially if the alignment of the life safety device after installation proves not to be cosmetically pleasing, and it is necessary to re-align the assembly.
To attach the life safety device to the mounting plate, it is also often necessary to align the life safety device such that the unit fits into (or on) a specific location on the mounting plate such as a tab, lip, slot or recess. To mount the assembly, it may be necessary to rotate the life safety device to a specific angle so that the slot, dimple, or tab on the life safety device comes into contact with the lip, projection, or recess on the mounting plate. This mounting arrangement limits the angle to which the life safety device can be rotated, often making it difficult to achieve cosmetically pleasing alignment of the assembly.